


Live and In Person

by Storyteller362



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, F/M, POV Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:20:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29347263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storyteller362/pseuds/Storyteller362
Summary: Alya has an exclusive interview with the elusive Marinette Dupain Cheng, aka MDC and her family. Including former Gabriel model, Adrien Agreste now Adrien Dupain Cheng, and the first ever with their children. Years after Hawkmoth has been revealed, Adrien is finally happy again and isn't afraid to show it - on live TV, no less. Gabriel isn't exactly thrilled. Please review!
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 9
Kudos: 123





	Live and In Person

Currently Gabriel Agreste was in a high maximum prison and going to therapy three times a week. Adrien hasn't really spoken to his father since his arrest. The warden had sent him letters that Gabriel had written but as far as he knew hasn't read them. His prison sentence might end earlier as long as he attended therapy.

"Good evening Paris, this is Alya Césaire for an exclusive interview with Marinette Dupain Cheng, also known as the elusive MDC and her family. Including former Gabriel model, Adrien Agreste now Adrien Dupain Cheng, and the first ever with their children. Stay tuned after this commercial break where we go to the family home."

From his spot in the prison, Gabriel intently stared at the television waiting for the 'exclusive interview.' They've only ever done interviews for magazines or online articles. It would be the first time Adrien and his family would be on television. Never mind the fact that he should be part of it. Preferably at a studio and not where people would nosy through their stuff.

The other inmates glanced at him before going back to their gin rummy game.

His blue eyes focused on the screen as Alya Césaire came back into frame. The film crew outside of a non descript corner row house. The address blurred out for privacy features. Alya had knocked on the door and a woman peered out.

"Hi, TVi news? I'm Cadence the housekeeper come on in and I'll take you to Marinette."

Gabriel just sighed exasperated. He was waiting for Adrien to come into frame, not the woman who married his son. Granted the interview was about her. He took this moment to study the background however. Ever critical about design he could see that housekeeper wasn't exactly doing her job. Books were strewn about, the place looked cluttered, and not all those candid photos on the wall were exactly flattering. The walls a soothing mint green color did not help either.

He sharply turned when he heard the housekeeper also helped cook and acted like a chauffer. What were Adrien and Marinette, animals?!

Until finally they entered what was the sewing room. It was obvious with swatches of fabric, organized containers filled with buttons, thread, and yarn. Natural light poured in through windows and a sewing machine area well lite.

"Hi Alya," said Marinette standing up to kiss each others cheeks. "I like your blouse."

"Thank you! It is an MDC original," she said winking at her.

Gabriel just rolled his eyes and half listened to the interviewing starting out. It was the usual; when did you start designing, what inspires you, just the basics. It was interesting to hear that she interned and started out at MODE, his competitor.

"You're not even 45 and you have a prolific career in fashion all without using the Agreste name. What do you think of that?"

"I guess I must have Ladybug's luck on my side."

Gabriel just stared and rolled his eyes. Now he really wished that he wasn't paying any attention to her. Ladybug was the reason why he was in here and not out there!

He was waiting for Adrien or even one of the children to show up; it was promised to bring in viewers. Instead he anxiously looked around again this time impressed with her work area. It was very functional and highly efficient with everything needed to design clothes.

That was when he saw her, at least one of the daughters, his granddaughter entered the frame. Dark hair like Marinette but that was Emilie's piercing green eyes staring back at the camera.

"And this is Emilie," said Marinette as if he didn't know.

Emilie Isabelle Dupain-Cheng was born on October tenth at three in the afternoon at the hospital conveniently located not too far from the family home. Right now she was sixteen years old. Gabriel had seen the birth announcement in the papers and kept a copy in his box of items he kept.

"Have you seen my book? It's called Severed: A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found."

What?! Alya just looked as shocked as he did and maybe a hint of glee.

"Emilie, what did I tell you about saying titles of the books you read while the reporter was here," said Marinette clearly exasperated and disgusted.

Emilie turned to the camera and grinned sweetly.

"The book is not about what you think, it's more about the history of the human head, rather than just decapitation. Like how the brain works connecting to how we move," she said eloquently. "When I was seven I watched a history of Halloween and became fascinated to know the history of other holidays. I got interested in learning about weird and different history from there. I'm also reading about Easter Island and Polynesian mythology."

"Adrien and I do not censor what our kids read," said Marinette a bit sheepishly. Then gave Emilie a pointed look. "However, she knows what our boundaries are. Honey when I told you to act natural in front of the camera I didn't mean advertising everything you read."

"Right maman," said Emilie with a cheeky smile. "Won't do again."

Well that was one thing that Gabriel wasn't sure how exactly to react to. Flabbergasted that she was into that kind of stuff. Especially how she didn't look like the type. He would have assumed someone in all black and shy would be into that sort of thing. Not his granddaughter who looked very girly. She had on a royal blue high waisted circle swing skirt with tiny white flowers dotted on it that twirled beautiful. A plain white blouse with a peter pan collar tucked in with the sleeves fashionably rolled to elbow. On her wrist two bracelets. One with a charity name on it and the other had beads on it.

"Well Emilie other than your unusual books, is there anything you'd like to tell the TVi viewers something about you?"

She blew a piece of her black hair out of her face and looked thoughtful.

"I know how to hide a body," she said and burst out into laughter. "No I'm only joking, I have no clue. Umm, I guess it would be that I like learning and good at school. One day I'd like to work at the Lourve with their pieces or any museum really."

"Well that's very interesting Emilie," said Alya quickly. "Perhaps we should go and meet some other people in your family."

"Well here's one right now," said Emilie before Marinette could stop her. She picked up a calico cat from the hardwood floors. "Her name is Tikki, we named her after the Tikki room after our trip to Disney World. It was one of our favorite attractions."

"Well what a sweet kitty," said Alya and Gabriel impassively sighed.

Pets, especially cats, were just a nuisance.

"That's just one of our five," said Marinette. "Come on, we'll go see if we can find some of the others. People or pets."

Gabriel bit his bottom lip and watched as Emilie answered a question about what it was like to be the daughter of a famous designer. Questions if she wants to be a model like her dad or design like her. Which of course she already answered. She called herself too fat to be a model stating she was a dress size 36. Which was not fat for his models.

He kept an eye out for Adrien instead finding another cat.

Finally, did they find another daughter and a brother hanging out. Gabriel, of course, knew exactly who they were. Hugo Ethan born on July 25 and Tabitha Catherine Dupain-Cheng born January 31. Same hospital and Tabitha was affectionately called Tabby Cat by close friends and family.

Despite them being out of the public eye, Gabriel knew quite a bit about his grandchildren. He glanced around to see if anyone even noticed him watching the television. Nobody seemed to be as entranced by it then him. Keeping to himself, he could see some others that went to therapy with him playing cards. The guidance counselor watched over everyone as he turned back to the television.

Dang it he had missed the kids saying something. Apparently the sibling pair was working on building something together. It looked like something out of popsicle sticks on some kind of platform.

"No, I think modeling sounds boring," said Hugo, exaggerating a huge yawn. Everyone in the room seemed to have gotten a kick out of it. "Papa and Maman told us to act natural and to wear our normal clothes and even that was too much for me. I want to be an astronaut or an actor."

That just led to another chuckle from the grown ups. The twelve year old had made quite a show of just showing how tired he was. If not a model he'd be a good actor just as he said. Plus, Gabriel at least knew what they looked like in their street clothes. Tabitha for example had her blond hair twisted into a Princess Anne braid with bangs. A loose fitting (but not oversized) black graphic tee that says "Being Kind is Classy" in teal letters and her jeans teal in color. Hugo's blond hair a spiky mess with green eyes just like Adrien. He wore a mustard yellow tee shirt and light blue jeans.

"Well I guess I wouldn't mind designing," said Tabitha. "I don't know if I'd design clothes though. Maybe I'll make bridges or something one day, I'm good at math. Or cake decorating. I'm a good baker according to my grandpapa. This is of course after I get my Olympic gold in rhythmic gymnastics."

"Following in your grandpere's footsteps is a great step forward. We can't wait to see what you kids will do in the future."

Well they never wanted to follow in his footsteps, however that might be a good thing.

Then Gabriel Agreste got what he wanted. Adrien live and in person on the screen with their eldest son Louis. Both looked like they were pouring over a university application. Brochures for various university's neatly stacked and organized. A tablet propped up as well.

"Hi Alya," said Adrien as if he knew the reporter personally.

"Hi Adrien," said Alya with just as much familiarity. "And you must be Louis."

Ahh yes, Louis Dupain-Cheng, the eldest of their children and the one Gabriel was curious to meet. See he had been reported on at least twice. The first being his birth which sent paparazzi in a frenzy. The second when he started school, which led to Marinette and Adrien banning all media coverage of their family. By now the boy was about eighteen years old.

Louis smiled at the camera charmingly and stood up to shake Alya's hand. It was a nice and polite smart move. Although it looked almost too formal considering he knew the two knows each other very well.

"Nice to meet you," he said.

"Well what are we working on here?" asked Alya eyeing the paperwork surrounding them.

"I've been applying to universities," said Louis, "and my dad has been helping me. We're trying to find the best school for environmental sciences and global studies. One day I hope to work for the UN to make the planet a better place."

A noble effort if a bit fruitless seeing how the planet has been a mess for about a century. Gabriel just groaned wondering if his family would ever been interested in fashion. He was hoping to hear him become a business major.

"He'll do great at it," said Adrien, ruffling his son's black hair. "Marinette and I are very proud of him."

"I bet that sounds very impressive," said Alya, also grinning. "Sounds like you have a rather ambitious family Adrien. You have a future Olympian, UN representative, actor and a historian in the family. How do you keep up?"

"Carefully," said Adrien jokingly. "Should we sit down for the interview? There's a great place in our living room."

"Lead the way."

Gabriel watched as his son, Adrien, radiated confidence. The way that he described their house, a clever placed pun, and the friendly banter with Louis. Marinette and Adrien holding hands the entire time. They seemed to have that relationship that Gabriel didn't have with him. Everyone was joking and laughing as he wished that he was there.

Finally they sat down in a cluttered (but clean) living room. He could see them sitting at a black couch, a stained glass image filtering the afternoon sun onto the blond wood floors. At the window a wind chime fluttered slightly. Around them fresh flowers sat at an end table and a place of chocolate chip cookies in front of them to share.

"Well we have a lot of questions and about an hour left of our special," said Alya as they made themselves comfortable. Emilie played with a deck of cards and a game of solitaire in front of her. Louis joined his mother at the end of the couch. Adrien pulled Tabby next to him. Hugo smushed in the middle of everyone grinning non-stop.

"Go ahead, I wanna be first!" said Hugo sitting up straight and throwing his arm up making himself known.

"Okay Hugo," said Alya as Gabriel leaned in. Around him the other inmates had turned to the TV as well. "Why don't you tell me what it's like to have a famous mom?"

"Boring," he said after a minute. Marinette chuckled a little hearing that and Adrien looked amused. "I mean she knows a lot of famous people, but all they talk about is clothes. I don't travel with her and have to stay home all the time."

"I guess you'd say you've been sheltered?" asked Alya leaning in for something semi juicy.

"Not really, I get to go out with my friends a lot and I can do whatever I want," he said pushing back some of his blond hair. "I just wish I could come with her is all."

"And I told him when he's older," said Marinette. "And maybe you could even bring a friend."

"I guess you'd rather be traveling rather than being at home with your dad at the bakery huh?" asked Adrien teasingly.

"You know what I mean dad," said Hugo, whining a little but a good nature smile on his face.

Gabriel was about to throw something at the tv at Adrien even mentioning that he co-owned the Dupain-Cheng bakery. That he wanted to own it and take over. Adrien got up every morning and helped bake. This was torture. It truly tore him apart knowing that his son didn't even care about the family business.

Gabriel watched as Hugo answered questions about wanting to be in movies. How he was close to his siblings. How much he and his parents bonded. Hugo's green eyes would light up talking about his likes and dislikes.

The same was said about the girls and Louis. How much they had normal lives and plenty of freedom. Gabriel acknowledges that their personalities reflected on television would be inaccurate or close to how they actually acted. It was all of the things that Gabriel had denied Adrien. Basically how in every way possible, Gabriel wasn't like a parent to Adrien.

And it stung.

Not to mention on top of that, he could see Adrien light up talking about how much he loved his kids. That was when Alya rounded her questions onto Adrien.

"I know I wasn't a huge fan of being a model at that young of an age. It was just something that I did because I was told to."

Ouch that stung even more. Just little details like that realized just how much he messed up as a parent. A lot of mistakes piling up one by snapped his head back to the television when he heard his own name.

"My dad was a good guide to how not to parent," said Adrien. "Sometimes I look toward my cousin Felix, he's a good dad despite us not always getting along."

So he made up with Felix huh? Or at least on some common ground with the kids looking pleased.

"And Chloe is great at keeping everyone on their toes too," said Adrien as Marinette seemed to twitch slightly at that mention. Adrien took the moment to kiss her cheek and whisper something in her ear making her blush.

He just grinned slightly but didn't watch the screen too closely. Public displays like that was not something he regularly did.

And he maintained his friendship with Chloe Bourgeois, however Marientte didn't look too happy about that. Who was now Mayor of Paris taking her father's position and Gabriel suspected that she was a miraculous holder. Maybe not the bee but there were a few in rotation. She was holding one of them he was sure.

Anyway Adrien had some friends in some powerful places as Adrien took Marniette's hand and squeezed it. It was sweet and irked him a little. They were going to act all lovey dovey on TV weren't they?

"Sounds like you have a lot of good influences to look toward," said Alya, commenting also on Kagami who was the kids legal guardian should something happen to Adrien or Marientte.

"I like to think so, if my father ever gets out of prison I'd be curious to know what he thinks."

"I think all of Paris would like to know. Well our two hour special is almost up. I'm sure most of our viewers are pleased to get to know each of you. And to finally end the speculation on why you changed your last name Adrien," she said jokingly.

Oh yea Gabriel had been thoroughly pissed when he heard that. Which led him to be sent to the isolation room for about twenty minutes give or take. He twitched a little when Adrien and Marinette kissed on live television once again.

"Do you have any final words?" asked Alya, ending the interview rather unprofessionally according to him.

"Keep an eye out for the fall line," said Adrien teasingly.

"Cardigans and hot chocolate with a book is the best thing ever," said Emilie with an upbeat smile. "And always do your homework."

"That's two things," said Tabitha. "I say eat more sweets."

"Make good choices," said Louis.

"We're a wreck, send help," said Hugo teasing as Louis nudged him. "Oh all right, I agree with Tabby. Eat more chocolate from the bakery."

Marinette shook her head but smiled and waved to the camera. "I hope you all enjoyed watching us," she said ignoring the banter the kids started.

The camera panned to Alya who just smiled herself.

"Thank you for watching TVi Paris and have a great night."

With that the tv went black and Gabriel slumped in his seat. What he wanted was answered, but how he got it was something else. Adrien didn't need him. He is fine and happy without his father in his life. Even if he did get out of prison, would Adrien even want him?

A hand reached over and tapped his shoulder. The psychologist smiled at him without a word indicating that they should probably talk. At least with Adrien saying that he'd like to have his opinion there was hope.

Hopefully one day he'd get that chance to meet the rest of his family.

**Author's Note:**

> Another idea! I have possibly two ideas left in the fandom? MIGHT do a Lila bashing fic if interested. I might write more when the ideas start flowing more so who knows. All I know is that I wanted to write something with Adrienette, future kids, and Gabriel. Plus I had fun looking at Parisian houses for how to describe the house.
> 
> Severed: A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found is a real book by Frances Larson. And an American size 6 is a 36 in Paris.
> 
> Special thanks to the Miraculous fanworks discord for ideas!
> 
> Please enjoy and review if you liked it!


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